Women Suffrage in USA

Women Suffrage in USA

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 began in the Northeastern part of the United states. The women were fighting for the right to be equal to the men at the time. But after the Revolutionary War, the women found a completely different purpose to fight. The leaders saw enfranchisement as one of the most important of their goals. The right to vote was not their purpose at all. The women wanted a change in a wide range in different things. Besides wanting to have equal rights, the women also wanted change in social, moral, legal, educational, and economical status. The woman suffrage movement brought many courageous women out in the public eye. Such women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were amongst many of them. The two women also established 'The National Woman Suffrage.

 Association'. The association was basically put up to build support for woman suffrage. In 1872, Anthony made an attempt to vote. She knew she was doing an illegal act and was hoping to be arrested. Anthony wanted to be arrested so she could take her case to court and try to prove her point. Anthony was arrested and taken to court. She was found guilty and fined. Susan B. Anthony claimed,'to never pay a dime of it.' # In 1869, two other woman suffrage organizations were founded. One of the organizations was called the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, which was led by Francis Willard as president. The WCTU as it was called, created a department of franchisee under Zerelda Wallace and Dr. Anna Howard Shaw. Willard was a great leader. She led thousands of women to support woman suffrage. Susan B. Anthony spoke several times to the WCTU groups of women. Another organization was the National American Woman Suffrage.

 Association. This association was organized by three main women, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone and Susan B. Anthony. Stanton was elected president and Stone was head of the executive committee. Anthony was the vice president, but she was the one who took actual command of the new organization. Anthony officially became president of the new organization in 1892, and remained at that position until 1900. While Anthony was president she thought they should focus the movement almost completely on winning the votes. Down in the South woman suffrage was being supported. In 1980, Laura Clay and NAWSA (National American Woman Association) leaders went to great trouble trying to bring the South's opionion up, so more people would listen and agree with it. They called that plan 'The Southern Strategy'. They sent Catt and Anthony throughout the southern regions on speaking tours. One of the largest conventions they made in the South was in 1895, it was held in Atlanta. The women continued their attempts to spred the movement further across the country and to more people. But leaders of the North and South began arguing about the danger women suffrage. They were worried about how women would vote and how they would handle having the same rights as the men. And by the North trying to convince the South on what a bad idea supporting woman suffrage was, they changed the South's mind about supporting woman suffrage. At least for the time. By 1903, it was clear to the women that their so-called 'Southern Strategy' had failed. After the 'Southern Strategy' had failed, the NAWSA went through a major period of rebuilding. They were rebuilding not only in membership but also in image. 'The association began succesfull efforts to recruit large members of socially and politically influential women.' # This time around they were reaching out to all different types of women. They were also getting numbers of middle and upper class women. The association also reached out to the new generation of colleg-educated women. There were many young leaders getting involved, but a few of the young leaders who really stood up and took charge were, Maud Wood Park, Inez Haynes Irwin, Mary Hutcheson Page of Massachusetts and Hariott Stanton Blatch(daughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton) of New York. Page and Blatch formed the College Equal Suffrage League. The two were trying to reinvigorate the suffrage movement in their state by introducing new tactics. # Blatch also organized the Equality League of self supporting women, it was later called the Women's Political Union. Another big issue in woman suffrage was the rights of black women. A woman that stood up as a leader was Ida Wells-Barnett of Chicago. Barnett was famous as a leading crusader against lynching.# Mary Church Terell, was an educator as well as the first president of the National Association of colored women. A wise woman by the name of Adella Hunt Logan, who was a Tuskegee faculty member, had said in articles that , ' if white women needed to vote, then black women, victims of racism as well as sexism, needed the ballot even more.'# In another part of the country there were middle class reformers, such as Jane Adams, founder of the famous settlement house in Chicago, Hull House, and Fluorence Kelley, who was the executive secretary of the National Consumer's League. The two women were strong supporters of woman suffrage. More suffrage supporters, such as labor leaders, Rose Schneiderman, labor organizer and also speaaker with the woman's trade Union League. There were many supporters of woman suffrage. The supporters ranged from all different types of women, there were women from the working class who were supporters of the movement. The working class was also welcomed by middle class leaders such as Hariott Stanton Blatch, who worked to bring all different classes of women together to support the situation. Besides from the many different classes who supported woman suffrage many socialists supported it as well. On the other hand, some socialists did not support it and were not as fond of it, such as, Emma Goldman, she thought it was foolish to expect that progress would come from a female. But it was around 1912, when there was an increased support for woman suffrage. And around this time there were many victories in the western states. In 1915, Carrie Chapman Catt returned to NAWSA and served as president until late 1915. Catt insisted that further state work was all vital. # Catt made it clear that the federal ammendmant was still the main goal of the women. She was thinking of a plan to help support woman suffrage, such as the 'southern plan' did. And it did, but her plan called for support from states that had not adopted woman suffrage yet. That was the most difficult part of it, trying to get states that had not adopted the movement would not be easy. Catt had called her brilliant idea the 'Winning Plan'. Shortly after the adoption of he winning plan came to the women, one of the most important turning points in the history of woman suffrage came, in 1980. The turning point in 1980 was as the two national suffrage organizations reunited in one major organizations. Besides the winning plan, catt and her lieutenants also worked hard to get President Wilson to support the suffrage movement. When the United States entered World War I, Catt got the suffragists to support the war. The women would go down to the hospitals and would nurse the injured men. President Wilson saw what effort and work the women put into taking care of others and how much they could help. The women helping during the war also enhanced the patriotic image of the women. In 1918, President Wilson started working on getting the women the federal amendment. The federal amendment eventually led to the nineteenth amendment, it got submitted to the states in June 1919. The women were not finished yet. They still had thirty-six states to ratify the amendment, before it could become a law. It took awhile for the states to decide. In each state there were some people who supported the suffrage movement and some who did not. By the summer of 1920, the suffragists were happy to know that there was only one state left that needed t vote. The last state that needed to ratify was Tennessee. But on August 18, 1920 Tennessee ratified and the suffrage had gotten all fifty states to ratify. Finally the nineteenth amendment was officially added to the United States Constitution on August 26, 1920. After seventy-two years of fighting the women won what they were fighting for. But the real victory was probably the fourteenth amendment. The fourteenth amendment basically cut out all of the old writings on the rights being just for the men. So women suffrage was put to an end summer of 1920.

Bibliography:

 Duby, George and Perrot, Michele. A History of Women IV, publisher: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Co. 1993. Brinkley, Alan. The Unfinished Nation, 3rd ed. publisher:McGraw Hill, co. 2000. Wheeler, Marjorie Spruill. The History of the suffrage movement, http://www.pbs.org/onewoman/suffrage.html Duby, George and Perrot, Michele. A History of Women IV, publisher: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Co. 1993. Brinkley, Alan. The Unfinished Nation, 3rd ed. publisher:McGraw Hill, co. 2000. Wheeler, Marjorie Spruill. The History of the suffrage movement, http://www.pbs.org/onewoman/suffrage.html